


it's the end of the world as we know it

by primaries



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Humor, Blow Jobs, M/M, Road Trips, Strangers to Lovers, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 11:44:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20778026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primaries/pseuds/primaries
Summary: FREE BLOWJOB FROM A TWINK!Call me! # 929–4382First, Johnny had to pull out his phone and Google exactly what a twink was. He blinked at the definition on Urban Dictionary for what felt like forever.Then, Johnny came to a decision. The world was going to end anyway. Why not get laid?Or, the one where the world is going to end in less than three weeks and normally responsible Johnny Seo ends up stuck with the hurricane that is Taeyong Lee during civilization's final days on Earth after going to his place to cash in on a no-questions-asked Armageddon blowjob.





	it's the end of the world as we know it

**Author's Note:**

> [READ PLEASE]
> 
> Before going into this story, I want to mention triggers of both mentions of rape (literally just in passing, it's never described in detail or given more than a sentence in depth but I want everyone to be aware of it) and MAJOR scene involved with suicide. Please stay safe and remember to put your own well-being first! The suicide scene does connect to the story but doesn't completely derail it if you don't read so I'll mark both the start and the end of the scene with asterisks if you want to skip over it!
> 
> This story is based off of "Seeking A Friend For The End of The World". It's one of my all-time favorite movies and I highly recommend that you all go watch it! 
> 
> There will only be two parts of this story. I originally was gonna post it all at the same time but realized it would be way too long and would definitely turn people off in terms of actually reading it, so.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

The world was set to end in a little under three weeks.

Johnny had been on his way to work when they finally announced it. A solemn voice interrupted his favorite Britney Spears song— _ Toxic _ which was and forever would be a timeless classic—and informed him that both the government and NASA’s attempt to stop the 84–mile wide asteroid ‘Annabelle’, first reported over a year ago by an estranged scientist by the name of Daniel Mensa, had been unsuccessful and would be colliding with Earth in less than a month.

They went back to playing  _ Toxic  _ right after that. Somehow, Britney Spears’s melodic voice and vapid lyrics didn’t sound all that great to Johnny anymore.

The world descended into chaos after that. Crime skyrocketed. People murdered and raped and stole as much as they wanted. Any and all authority that could and would have stopped them before the announcement was nonexistent. Suicide had become the new normal. There wasn’t a day that by where Johnny didn’t stumble across the body of someone who had decided they didn’t want to wait for the asteroid to take them out.

Johnny was fired from his job. Well, not fired. His boss had let him go gently, saying that she wasn’t going to spend her last days on Earth tending after her failing business of a bar. Johnny didn’t blame her. She was definitely missing out on a fair amount of profit, though. After all, alcohol was the easiest way for people to forget that they would all be ceasing to exist soon.

His girlfriend broke up with him. She called him boring and very bluntly informed him that she would much rather get struck by the same asteroid six times in a row than to spend the rest of her life with someone as boring as him. That had hurt. Even still, Johnny couldn’t blame her. He didn’t want to spend the final days of his life with himself either.

All of this led to Johnny standing in front of the entrance of his apartment building. It had been wildly vandalized and had several windows smashed to pieces due to the increase of robberies in the area. Only a few people still lived there, including Johnny. Surprisingly enough, nobody had ever tried to break in to his place. They probably sensed that he didn’t have anything of significant worth in there.

He stared at the sign plastered on the front door, drawn up on a piece of copy paper written in faded purple Sharpie.

FREE BLOWJOB FROM A TWINK!

Call me! # 929–4382

First, Johnny had to pull out his phone and Google exactly what a twink was. He blinked at the definition on Urban Dictionary for what felt like forever.

Then, Johnny came to a decision. The world was going to end anyway. Why not get laid?

Which is how he ended up standing outside of a door with a faded 3C written on the wood in the complex a block and a half down from his own. He had texted the number on the flyer—couldn’t bring himself to actually call and ask a stranger to suck his dick—and received a reply about a half hour later with an address.

Johnny stood there for a few more seconds before stepping forward and knocking. He realized in that moment that the possibility of him literally being robbed blind or murdered was pretty high. After all, he was going to a stranger’s house in the middle of an extremely shady complex. It sounded like a recipe for disaster.

That all being said, it couldn’t turn out worse than being burned to a crisp by an asteroid that would quite literally split the world into two.

The door opened momentarily afterward. Johnny immediately froze where he was standing, blinking back at the man—boy? Johnny didn’t know, he looked pretty young—that stood in front of him. 

Johnny didn’t know what he had been expecting the person who wrote up the flyer to look like. Taller. A little bit broader. Nothing too extraordinary on either side of the scale.

What he absolutely  _ hadn’t  _ been expecting was the scenic beauty in front of him. Big brown eyes. A tiny mouth with naturally pink lips, not too full and not too thin. His skin was healthy and unblemished, soft and pale but still twinged with enough color that it didn’t stand out too much. Both his cheeks and the lower half of his face was rounded in a way that made him look considerably young; enough for Johnny to question if what he was about to do was legal.

Well, everything was legal now. However, Johnny still had  _ some  _ morals.

The dude stared at Johnny with those  _ huge  _ eyes for a long while. Then, he huffed, sending pieces of his purple hair blowing every which way across his forehead. He was one of the first people Johnny had seen with their hair dyed such a striking color. It suited him.

“Ruby!” he suddenly called, surprising Johnny with how deep his voice was. It wasn’t anything too obnoxious but still most definitely not what Johnny had been expecting out of him.

A distant sound rang through Johnny’s ears a second or two after the man had spoken. Then, a small dog came trotting out. It stopped at the door for a moment before approaching Johnny, smelling him vigorously.

This went on for a minute or so. The dog eventually hopped down from Johnny’s leg, turning and walking carelessly back to where it had come from.

“Johnny, right?” Johnny’s small moment of confusion was interrupted by that same voice.

“Yeah,” Johnny nodded. He thought back to his text thread with the unfamiliar number. “Taeyong?”

“That’s me,” the man— _ Taeyong— _ chirped, moving to rest his head against the doorframe. He stared at Johnny for a little while longer, to where Johnny was squirming underneath his gaze. “Ruby told me you’re safe.”

“Who’s Ruby?” Johnny asked.

“My puppy,” Taeyong said. Johnny thought back to the dog and how it had smelled him.

“Oh,” Johnny coughed. “Cool.”

Taeyong laughed. The sound was quiet and melodious. Johnny liked it. 

“Come in,” Taeyong said, stepping aside to give Johnny room to fit in through the door.

This should have been the moment where Johnny came to his senses and went back home. It  _ should have _ been.

Instead of listening to his own common sense, Johnny clicked his tongue quietly before stepping inside. He only barely heard the door lock behind him. The inside of Taeyong’s house was messy with old plates of food and clothes strewn haphazardly around the room. Still, it had some sort of a comfortable feel to it. Johnny got more of a busy college student vibe from it, not disgusting slob.

Ruby came back over and licked Johnny’s ankle. Johnny bent down to pet her but Taeyong had already picked her up, tucking her underneath his arm.

“You want a drink or something?” Taeyong asked as Ruby rapidly licked at the back of his hand. 

“Um,” Johnny started. “No, I think I’m good.”

“Okay,” Taeyong nodded, bending down to place Ruby back on the floor. She barked once before retreating somewhere around the corner. “Well, you wanna go ahead and take out your dick?”

Johnny blanched at that. He had almost forgotten the reason why he came. The way Taeyong said it was so blunt that Johnny couldn’t help but blush, suddenly feeling very conscious of his choice.

“That’s, um,” Johnny interrupted himself with a small cough. “You’re blunt.”

“What’s the point of filtering yourself when the world is about to end?” Taeyong shrugged. He had a point.

“Um,” Johnny said, scratching at the back of his neck. “You want to do it right here?”

“Okay,” Taeyong said. “Let me go grab a pillow.”

Taeyong walked across the room and plucked a pillow off from his couch, tossing it down in front of Johnny after coming back. He moved to his knees shortly thereafter, pushing some hair out of his face before looking up at Johnny and— _ wow _ , Taeyong looked really pretty like this. Johnny wondered how many people before him got to see that very view, who all had appreciated it before him.

Taeyong cleared his throat quietly before moving up, beginning to undo the button of Johnny’s shorts. It was then that Johnny realized he wasn’t hard. Should he have been? Would the fact that he wasn’t be awkward? He didn’t have much time to think about it, as Taeyong already had pushed his shorts to his ankles and had three fingers tucked underneath the waistband of his boxers.

“Oh,” Taeyong said from beneath Johnny.

“What?” Johnny asked, his voice almost fearful.

“You’re, like,” Taeyong started, looking up at Johnny with big eyes. “You’re huge, dude.”

Johnny had been told that a lot. By his girlfriend who embraced it—it being probably the only part of him that she actually liked—and random people who he had hooked up before her whose responses varied. Some were discouraged by it. Most were impressed. Johnny couldn’t really gauge Taeyong’s reaction.

“I–Is that bad?” Johnny said.

“Nah,” Taeyong shrugged, reaching forward to take Johnny’s cock in his hand. Johnny flinched at the contact, noticing how Taeyong’s hand was only barely able to wrap around his length. “I don’t think I can fit all of this into my mouth, though.”

That made sense. After all, Taeyong’s mouth looked exceptionally small.

“That’s okay,” Johnny told him, nodding. “Take your time.”

Taeyong laughed at that, shaking his head. Johnny didn’t know if he was making fun or him or simply entertained by him. He got distracted by both the sight and feeling of Taeyong leaning forward and spitting over the head of his cock. The warm, wet liquid made Johnny suck in a sharp breath of air through his teeth, hands grabbing at the air for a moment, yearning for something to hold on to. 

Johnny coughed quietly when Taeyong started to jerk him off, trying not to focus too much on how good the slide of his hand felt against his cock. Taeyong didn’t look too affected by the situation, one hand braced on the floor, staring at Johnny’s dick almost boredly.

For awhile, the only sound in the room was the wet noise of Taeyong’s hand over the length of Johnny’s cock.

“You want me to talk dirty to you or something?” Taeyong asked, looking up at Johnny again.

“Um,” Johnny blinked down at both Taeyong and his half–hard cock. “I don’t really think that’s necessary.”

“Sucks for you,” Taeyong said, pressing his thumb into the slit of Johnny’s cock to coax out more pre–come, causing Johnny to gasp quietly above him. “I’m really good at it.”

Johnny opened his mouth to respond but that was the same time that Taeyong opened his mouth, too, dropping his hand from around Johnny’s cock and replacing it with his mouth. Johnny had to hold back at hiccup at the feeling of Taeyong’s small tongue nursing the head of his cock, dipping into the slit to suck up any come that hadn’t yet leaked from there.

And, like. Taeyong was  _ really _ good at this. He focused all of his attention on the head, moving every so often to lick underneath it. Johnny could feel his face darkening, color flooding his caramel skin. It had been awhile since someone had their mouth on him. His girlfriend—well, ex—stopped wanting to have sex with him towards the end which in hindsight definitely should have been a sign.

Then, Taeyong pushed some hair out of his face, taking a deep breath in through his nose before taking in more of Johnny’s cock, almost down to the hilt. Johnny couldn’t stop himself from moaning as Taeyong’s warm throat sheathed his cock, almost a little overwhelming with how tight it was around him.

“Holy shit,” Johnny breathed as Taeyong started to bob his head up and down his cock, dragging his tongue over the sensitive veins on either side with each uptake. “Y–You’re really good at this.”

“I know,” Taeyong responded after pulling off, spitting over Johnny’s cock again, using his saliva to start stroking him again. It seemed that he liked it messy. “I’m trying to beat my record.”

“W–What record?” Johnny gasped out. Taeyong suckled on his cockhead for a moment before pulling back off to answer.

“How fast I can make someone come,” Taeyong explained. “My record is four minutes and forty–two seconds.”

He took Johnny back into his mouth after that, swallowing him down all the way to the hilt. It was then that Johnny realized Taeyong had a pretty fair shot of beating his record because if he continued on like this, he wasn’t too sure how much longer he could last.

Taeyong pulled back and started to bob his head again, spit that had slipped from each corner of his mouth while deepthroating Johnny slipping down his chin in thick globs. It should have been gross but only served to make the situation more erotic.

“I–I’m close,” Johnny gasped after a moment, feeling that tight ball build up in the pit of his stomach.

“Sweet,” Taeyong croaked before getting back to work.

Johnny was only able to stand another moment or two of Taeyong working him with both his mouth and his hand, licking and swallowing and sucking all around his length while his hand beat off what his mouth couldn’t reach. He groaned before spilling into the tight heat of Taeyong’s throat, overwhelmed with how amazing it felt to have his cock buried down so deep, spilling his load again and again. His (ex) girlfriend had never let him come in her mouth, said that she had way too much respect for herself.

Which must have been why she let six members of Alpha Phi Delta run a train on her back in college.

Taeyong pulled off of Johnny’s softening cock and swallowed, scrunching up his nose a little at the taste. He looked a mess; the entire lower half of his face covered in spit and what could have been come that he hadn’t swallowed and both his cheeks and neck had flooded with color, the pink contrasting impressively with the purple of his hair.

“You should probably, like,” Taeyong stopped to swallow again, “drink a lot more water.”

Johnny blushed deeply at that. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Don’t be,” Taeyong reassured him, kind enough to help Johnny tuck himself back into his shorts. “Gross as it was, you helped me get a new record.” Once Johnny was decent again, he held up his wrist to show a small watch that Johnny hadn’t even noticed was there. “Four minutes and thirty–nine seconds!”

“Congratulations?” Johnny said, unsure of how else to respond and a little embarrassed that he hadn’t been able to last longer.

Taeyong went to respond but was interrupted by Ruby running into the room, barking. Both Taeyong and Johnny looked over at her. Taeyong frowned.

“What’s up, girl?” Taeyong asked. Ruby barked again. She turned into a circle and yipped down at the empty hallway.

There was a pause. Then, almost as if on cue with another one of Ruby’s high–pitched barks, a brick came crashing through a window in the hallway. Ruby whined and scrambled to get next to Taeyong who quickly picked her up, standing up from the floor.

“What the fuck?” Taeyong said, cradling Ruby close to his side.

Someone yelled right as a bottle of alcohol came crashing through the window. There was barely a second between when the fire started, lighting the hallway in a dim yellow. Ruby barked again.

Johnny’s first instinct was to run and get the fuck out of there as quickly as possible. Taeyong’s first instinct was to approach the fire with Ruby still tucked under his arm, grabbing a nearby plant and dumping it out over the flames. The small amount of water in the pot did little to nothing to calm it down. In fact, it seemed to only rage higher than before.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Taeyong shouted. His next move was to try and stomp out the fire, only to yelp in pain when the heat grazed his bare ankle. He groaned and leaned out the broken window, yelling, “Assholes!”

Johnny was conflicted. He knew what was happening. It was what happened to so many people at his own complex. People liked to wreak havoc. They create makeshift Molotov cocktails and chuck it into anywhere it could reach. It wouldn’t be long before all of Taeyong’s apartment was up in flames.

He wanted to get out of there. He had avoided being burnt to a crisp this long and didn’t want it to happen now. Leaving Taeyong there felt wrong, though. He had Ruby and absolutely no idea what was going to happen, seeing that he was still trying to fight it off.

It was the least that Johnny could do for him after he sucked his dick with no questions asked.

“Hey,” Johnny said, approaching Taeyong carefully as to not come in contact with the fire. “We should go.”

“Fuck that,” Taeyong said, leaning back out the window to try and seek out whoever had thrown the body. Ruby scrambled under his arm, clearly having sensed the danger and eager to get far away from it.

“Listen, you’re gonna get hurt if you don’t come on,” Johnny tried again, feeling just as anxious as Ruby was.

Taeyong pulled back up and looked at him. Then, he looked down at the fire that was now creeping up the walls, slowly causing the wallpaper to peel. He groaned and shook his head before turning and shoving Ruby into Johnny’s arms.

“Hold on,” Taeyong said.

Johnny watched as Taeyong slipped into the room that was only mere seconds away from being scathed by the fire. He stepped back as the flames seemed to creep closer, threatening to burn both him and Ruby.

Taeyong didn’t come out for a long while. The fire was right up against the door. Johnny was starting to become worried.

Then, Taeyong came running out, sweating. Another flame nipped at his leg and he cursed loudly, bending down to try and soothe the skin with his hand. While doing so, the hoodie he had come out with caught alight, quickly beginning to burn from the bottom up.

“Oh, fuck me!” Taeyong shouted, dropping it on the floor. His attempt of stomping it out worked a little but not enough to stop it from burning completely. He looked up at Johnny. “Fucking help me!”

The irritation and sharpness of his voice was enough to snap Johnny out of the trance he was in. He nodded and ran around to the kitchen. Luckily enough, there was an old bottle of lukewarm water sitting on the counter closest to the stove. He took it and replaced Ruby in the spot it been in, high enough to ensure that she wouldn’t try and hop down.

Taeyong was still battling the hoodie when Johnny came back around. The fire behind him had burned the entire hallway and was now making way into the living room. Johnny uncapped the bottle and dumped it over the hoodie, efficiently putting it out. Taeyong breathed a sigh of relief and picked it up, looking over to Johnny.

“Where’s Ruby?” he asked, voice panicked.

At the call of her name, Ruby came running around the corner—so much for her not being able to get down—and ran into Taeyong’s arms. Taeyong was quick to grab her off of the floor, glaring at Johnny once he had her comfortably.

“Why would you leave her?” Taeyong frowned.

“I—” Johnny started, about to defend himself from Taeyong’s accusation. He stopped upon noticing how close the flames had gotten to Taeyong. “I think we should go.”

Taeyong turned to look at the fire. The sadness on his face was clear. Then, he turned and squinted at Johnny.

“This isn’t over,” Taeyong vowed.

“What isn’t over?” Johnny asked but Taeyong was already pushing past him, making his way out the door.

Johnny took one last look at the apartment. He noticed Ruby’s leash and bowl on the floor.

“Come on!” Taeyong shouted. Johnny turned to see him standing on the other side of his door. He nodded and bent down to pick up the leash and bowl before running to follow after Taeyong who hadn’t stayed any longer to wait up for him, already making his way down the staircase.

  
  


✂️

As it turned out, the same people who had set Taeyong’s apartment alight had immediately flocked to Johnny’s complex afterward.

They approached the building to see it doused in flames, raging wildly. Johnny groaned. Taeyong looked over at him. Ruby ran in a circle and tangled herself up in her leash, barking for help. 

“Well,” Taeyong said, bending down to pick Ruby up and pull her leash out from where it was wrapped around her paw. “What now?”

“What do you mean?” Johnny asked, looking over at Taeyong as he dropped Ruby back on the ground. 

“We both don’t have anywhere to live,” Taeyong reminded him, pointing up at the building. “So, what’s the plan?”

Johnny thought about it. He still had a car. His father still lived a little outside of Chicago. They hadn’t spoken in over a year but Johnny figured it wouldn’t be hard to get past whatever awkwardness lingered between the two of them given their impending doom.

“I think I’m gonna go to Chicago,” Johnny finally answered.

Taeyong made a face. “Why Chicago?”

“My dad is there,” Johnny told him although he didn’t really know that for sure. It wasn’t only the fact that the apocalypse changed a lot for most people. He hadn’t talked to his father in a year. The older man could have relocated to West Virginia and he wouldn’t know.

“Cool,” Taeyong nodded. Ruby barked in agreement. It was almost impressive how well she mimicked her owner. “I’m in.”

Johnny paused. He hadn’t invited Taeyong. Sure, it sucked that his apartment got burned down and he was now without a place to live but traveling across the country with the guy who had given him a spontaneous blowjob didn’t really sound all that ideal to Johnny.

“Um,” Johnny started, trying to think of a nice way to word it. “Don’t you have family?”

“In South Korea,” Taeyong said with a shrug. “The last plane there took off, like, a week ago. That ship has long since sailed, my friend.”

He said that so casually, like it didn’t bother him in the slightest that he would die without ever seeing his family again.

“Well, yeah, but—” Johnny started, only to be interrupted by Taeyong.

“Come on,” Taeyong said, picking up Ruby off the ground again. “Are you really gonna let the dude who gave you the best orgasm of your life die alone on the streets of New York?” 

“I never said it was the best orgasm of my life,” Johnny mumbled, blushing again. “And you’re not alone. You have Ruby.”

Even while having said that, Johnny was slowly cracking. It would be truly awful to leave Taeyong by himself in the middle of a city that was slowly deteriorating due to pre–apocalypse violence. Though he didn’t know Taeyong all that well, Johnny still had a conscious.

He looked at Taeyong who was steadily staring at him before glancing down to Ruby who was once again mimicking her owner. It was the first time Johnny noticed that the two of them kind of looked like each other.

“Fine,” Johnny finally caved. “Just don’t mention to my dad how we met.”

“You don’t want me to tell your dad about how you came in my mouth?” Taeyong said, following behind Johnny who started walking in the direction of his car.

“ _ No _ ,” Johnny responded and Taeyong snickered. 

The initial ride out of Queens wasn’t too horrible. Most of the traffic in and out of New York had died down after the first week the news was announced. Taeyong kept Ruby in his lap, his seatbelt pulled over the both of them. Ruby kept trying to get to the window, desperate to get her out out into the fresh air. Taeyong wouldn’t let her.

It was when Johnny had drove them into New Jersey that Taeyong spoke again.

“Let’s play a game,” Taeyong suggested, looking over at Johnny who shrugged.

“Okay,” Johnny said.

“I’ll ask you a question and then you ask me one,” Taeyong explained. Johnny frowned.

“That’s not a game,” he countered, glancing away from the road for a split second to watch Taeyong rub Ruby’s head.

“Yeah, it is,” Taeyong defended. “Twenty questions.”

“That’s not how twenty questions work,” Johnny pointed out. “One person thinks of something and the other person has to guess by asking questions.”

“Alright, Mr. Game Expert,” Taeyong said, voice sharp. “Are you gonna play or not?”

Johnny thought about it for a moment. It sounded a lot better than riding in silence. Plus, he figured that he probably should learn more about Taeyong other than the fact that he liked to give random men free blowjobs.

“Alright,” Johnny finally agreed. “Shoot.”

“What’s your social security number?”

Johnny looked over at Taeyong and frowned. He could only do so for a split second before the car was swerving, forcing him to look forward to control it.

“The world is set to end in nineteen days and you’re trying to steal my identity?” Johnny asked bluntly.

“Maybe,” Taeyong shrugged.

“Okay, we’re done here,” Johnny said and Taeyong laughed loudly, his eyes turning into small crescents.

“I’m kidding,” he said, shaking his head. Johnny didn’t think it was funny. “Okay, seriously. How old are you?”

“Twenty–three,” Johnny answered.

“Holy shit,” Taeyong gasped, still smiling. “You’re an old man.”

“How old are  _ you _ then?” Johnny questioned, feeling a little insulted. He wasn’t old.

“Eighteen,” Taeyong chirped.

Oh. Wow. Okay. Johnny would have to deal with the fact that he had let an 18–year–old suck his dick. It wasn’t technically illegal—again, nothing seemed to be nowadays—but still didn’t sit right with him. 

“New eighteen or eighteen about to turn nineteen?” Johnny asked, trying to make himself feel somewhat better.

“There’s a question every paedophile in history has asked,” Taeyong snickered quietly. Johnny huffed. “Eighteen about to turn nineteen,” Taeyong answered, slipping his fingers under Ruby’s collar. “I’m a summer baby.”

“What month?” Johnny said.

“July,” Taeyong sighed. He paused, seeming to think about something for a moment. “You know, if I had known that last year was going to be my last birthday I would have done more than pig out at Panda Express.”

Johnny thought back to his birthday. He had worked a double that day. A few people picked up a cake for him from the bakery next door. Whoever decorated it had spelled his name as ‘Jhonny’, which became a recurring gag for the next couple of weeks. They all ate it after close and Johnny took the leftovers home with him, ending up giving it away to some local stray cats a day later. 

He had liked it. Going big has never really been his style. Would he have done something else if he knew that the world was destined to end three months later? Probably.

“Okay,” Taeyong continued, sitting up straighter in his seat. “Where are you from?”

“Chicago,” Johnny answered. “You?”

“Seoul,” Taeyong said. “Born and raised until my parents decided to ship me off to Queens to live with my aunt.”

“How old were you?” Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ten or eleven,” Taeyong shrugged, putting his feet up on the dashboard, jostling a sleeping Ruby whose head perked up with the sudden movement. “What compelled you to agree to a blowjob from a random man?” 

Johnny really wished that Taeyong would stop being so blunt about that. He sucked in a breath of air and willed himself not to darken too much at Taeyong’s question.

The answer wasn’t that hard. The world was ending. Johnny’s girlfriend had broken up with him. Why not be spontaneous and take the chance between being brutally murdered or getting his dick sucked?

“The world is gonna end,” Johnny said very simply. Taeyong laughed. “What compelled you to give out blowjobs to random men?” He thought about it for a second. “And how many people actually took you up on it?”

“Besides you?” Taeyong asked. Johnny knew that he only did to further point out the fact that he had. He swallowed down a sigh and nodded.

“Yes, besides me,” Johnny confirmed, doing his best to ignore Taeyong’s smug grin.

“Well, I figured that there would be a ton of guys out there who wanted to try something new before their inevitable end and felt like the least I could do was offer up my services,” Taeyong revealed. “And fourteen. It was supposed to be fifteen but one dude was just way too creepy for me to go through with it. Plus, Ruby barked at him.”

“Is she your bodyguard or something?” Johnny asked, chuckling a little.

“She is,” Taeyong defended, waking Ruby up from her sleep to hold her up. “She’s a fighter. Killed 18 men in Vietnam with her bare paws.”

Johnny shook his head at that and Taeyong laughed. Ruby made a discontent noise before doing her best to wriggle out of Taeyong’s grasp, turning around in a circle in his lap before sitting back down again. 

It’s quiet again for a moment. Taeyong was looking out the window at all of the passing scenery. Then, out of nowhere, he gasped loudly, causing Johnny to flinch.

“ _ What? _ ” Johnny asked sharply, looking over at Taeyong who was pointing out the window.

“Look, there’s a guy!” Taeyong exclaimed, reaching over to grab Johnny’s arm. “Pull over!”

Johnny looked to his left. True to Taeyong’s word, there was a man standing on the side of the road with his thumb up. He didn’t seem like a serial killer or anyone of any significant danger but Johnny still wasn’t convinced.

“I’m not pulling over to pick up a random guy off the side of the road,” Johnny said simply.

“You’re seriously gonna leave him there?” Taeyong questioned, incredulous. 

“Yes, I’m seriously gonna leave him there,” Johnny countered.

“Okay,” Taeyong started. “Think about this. What if after the world ends you’re transported up to Heaven—?”

“—You don’t get  _ transported _ up to Heaven,” Johnny interrupted. 

“— _ You get transported up to Heaven _ ,” Taeyong repeated sharply. “And right when you’re about to enter, God asks you why you didn’t stop for this random man like one of His  _ good  _ children would have done. What would you say then?”

“I would say that I didn’t want to risk being brutally murdered,” Johnny said without hesitation.

“Touché,” Taeyong admitted. They were almost coming up on the man. “Come on, Johnny! Ruby will inspect him and make sure that he’s safe.”

Johnny thought about it for a moment. He knew that it was a silly thing for him to even be considering but what if Taeyong was right? What if there really was a life beyond his one on Earth and the only way for him to achieve it was to be vigilant about what he was doing right now? 

It probably didn’t help that he had let a stranger suck his dick a couple of hours ago. Johnny shook his head. He couldn’t believe that what Taeyong had said was actually getting to him.

“If we get killed I’m blaming you,” Johnny huffed before pulling the car over.

The man looked up at them as Johnny rolled down the window. He seemed like late–twenties with frizzy blonde hair and a small tattoo of a star underneath his right eye.

_ Great _ , Johnny thought.  _ We’re picking up the dude with the face tattoo _ .

Taeyong unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over Johnny’s lap to stick his head out the window.

“Hi!” Taeyong said happily, waving. His hair smelled like strawberries. It was kind of soothing.

“Oh, hey,” the man responded, seemingly taken aback by the fact that someone had actually stopped for him.

“I’m Taeyong and this is Ruby,” Taeyong introduced, making Ruby wave with her paw.

“I’m Johnny,” Johnny piped up since Taeyong had failed to introduce him.

“That’s Johnny,” Taeyong parroted.

“Cool,” the man nodded, looking back and forth between Johnny and Taeyong. He seemed uneasy about something. “I–I’m Dylan.”

“Hi, Dylan!” Taeyong chirped, smiling. Johnny looked past him, at his ass that was very much in the air. It was the first time that Johnny took notice to those little green cotton shorts he had on and the fact that they didn’t do very much to cover up his backside. Johnny huffed. “Where are you headed?”

“Um,” Dylan started, taking a moment to think about it. Johnny squinted at him. Why would he have to think about it? Shouldn’t he already know? “Lansing.”

“I’m not good at geography,” Taeyong frowned, turning back to look at Johnny. “Where’s Lansing?”

“Michigan,” Johnny told him.

“Oh!” Taeyong said. “Well, that’s pretty much on our way. Want a ride?”

It wasn’t on their way. If they continued traveling on their current route, the last state they would cross through was Indiana. Michigan was right above Indiana. It was actually completely out of their way.

But, Dylan was already nodding eagerly. “Sure,” he said.

“Cool,” Taeyong grinned. “Rubes has to check you out before you get in, though.”

Dylan frowned a little in confusion but didn’t protest. He stepped forward without another word and Taeyong held Ruby out of the window, letting her do her job. After a moment or two, Ruby pulled back and began to lick her paw.

“You’re good!” Taeyong declared, reaching down to press the button that unlocked all the doors. “Come on in.”

Johnny watched Dylan opened up the back door and slid inside, beginning to feel a bit uncertain about Ruby’s sense of judgment. Taeyong returned to his own seat, placing Ruby down in his lap gently. 

“So, where are you guys headed?” Dylan asked.

“Chi—” Taeyong started before Johnny was cutting him off.

“—Portland,” Johnny said quickly. Taeyong looked over at him, clearly confused by his answer. Johnny made it a point to ignore his stare.

“Cool,” Dylan nodded, not having noticed the weirdness going on in front of him.

Taeyong stared at Johnny for only a moment longer before turning around in his seat to look at Dylan.

“We’re playing Twenty Questions,” Taeyong told him, smiling. “You in?”

“Sure,” Dylan shrugged.

“Sweet,” Taeyong chirped, turning back around. “First question: what’s your social security number?”

  
  


✂️

It had only been a couple of hours. During that span of time, Johnny found out that Dylan was from Houston, Ruby’s 9th birthday was in a week, Taeyong liked to collect insects and much more that he hadn’t even attempted to keep track of. Taeyong talked the most out of the three of them. Johnny was sure that he was physically unable to go more than five minutes without speaking.

They were in some off–the–grid county in Pennsylvania. There wasn’t much to look at other than bland nature and some animals that roamed the pastures on each side of the road. Johnny drove carefully due to a sign about a half an hour back he saw that warned people coming through about cows that would cross every now and again. Taeyong was humming along to a song Johnny didn’t recognize. Dylan was looking out the window. It was peaceful.

Ruby whined for the fifth time that hour. Taeyong looked down at her and cooed, petting over her head.

“Johnny,” Taeyong called, still staring down at Ruby.

“Hm?” Johnny said, glancing over at Taeyong.

“Ruby has to pee,” Taeyong told him.

Johnny frowned. “Can’t she wait a little while longer?” he asked. They were in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t really seem safe for them to stop. 

“ _ No _ ,” Taeyong whined. “Just pull over at one of these fields.”

“That doesn’t seem safe,” Johnny reiterated, hoping Taeyong just let it go.

“Dylan can come with me,” Taeyong said, turning around in his seat. “Right, Dylan?”

“Sure,” Dylan shrugged.

Right. Because going out with the weirdo with the face tattoo in the middle of a dark field was better. Johnny sighed. Something told him that Taeyong wasn’t going to give in on this. 

“I’ll take her,” Johnny said. He could take Dylan on if needed.

“Fine,” Taeyong responded.

Without another word, Johnny pulled the car over for the second time that day. Both Taeyong and Dylan unbuckled their seatbelts in unison. Taeyong handed Ruby over to Johnny, clipping her leash to her collar.

“If she doesn’t immediately go it’s because she’s shy,” Taeyong told him. “You have to sing to her to get her to go.” 

Johnny blinked at him. “I’m not singing to your dog, dude,” he said.

“I was fucking with you,” Taeyong snickered, sitting back down in his seat. “I just wanted to see what you would say.”

Johnny rolled his eyes before opening the door, letting Ruby down before getting out himself. Dylan followed. They both turned at the mechanical sound of Taeyong rolling down the window.

“Make sure she shits!” Taeyong reminded them.

“Oh my fucking God,” Johnny said, starting to walk off before Taeyong could say anything else.

Almost as soon as they got to the edge of the field, Ruby was leaning down to pee. It seemed almost endless, leading to Johnny wonder how long she had been holding it. He waited patiently as Dylan approached both of them slowly.

Ruby was still peeing. Him and Dylan were standing together in an uncomfortable silence. Johnny felt obligated to speak.

_ ** _

“So,” Johnny started, already cringing at how awkwardly the first word had come out. “Michigan, huh?”

“My girlfriend broke up with me,” Dylan said.

Johnny froze. It was a completely random thing to say. He waited for Dylan to elaborate, to somehow connect it to him going to Lansing. Nothing ever came. For a long moment, Johnny was unsure how to respond.

“That blows, man,” Johnny finally decided on saying, shaking his head. “Mine, too.”

“She broke it off with me right after they announced it,” Dylan continued sadly. “Said that she wanted to spend the rest of time with her family.” 

That was understandable. Some people held their family higher than anyone else. Johnny could respect it. He didn’t really get it but understood that was because his relationship with his family had never been all that healthy.

“Well, I get that,” Johnny shrugged. “The world is ending. Why not spend the rest of your life with your family?”

“They didn’t respect her,” Dylan said sharply, surprising Johnny with the sudden change in attitude and tone. “They didn’t love her.  _ I  _ did. And she still choose them over me.”

Johnny looked down at Ruby. She was still peeing. How much piss could a 8–pound dog hold in them? He desperately wanted her to hurry up. This was getting really awkward really fast and Johnny didn’t know how to handle it.

“That sucks,” Johnny coughed, very visibly uncomfortable. He now wished that Taeyong had come out. He would know how to deal with this.

“I was going to Michigan to be with family. Like she told me to, you know?” Dylan explained. All of his anger from earlier had now left his voice. “But I can’t. I can’t live without her, man.”

“I mean,” Johnny said, looking down at Ruby for a split second. “I think you can.”

Dylan shook his head and moved his hand down to reach in the pocket of his hoodie. Johnny really didn’t like where this was going. His heart had started to accelerate. He looked at Ruby again. She had finished peeing but Johnny couldn’t move.

“Whoa!” Johnny shouted, jumping back quickly at the sight of the gun in Dylan’s hand.

“I can’t,” Dylan restated, bringing the gun up.

Johnny couldn’t fucking believe this. He shouldn’t have listened to Taeyong. He had known that from the moment the idea had even left Taeyong’s mouth. Yet, Johnny had still agreed. He had willingly let the psychopath with the face tattoo get into his car. He had willingly walked into an open field with him in the middle of the night.

He was going to die because he was an idiot that let some kid that he hadn’t even known for more than a day to convince him of the idea that there was a punishing God that would banish him to Hell for not stopping for a hitchhiker. 

Nice.

But before Johnny could flinch back at the sight of the gun being aimed at him, Dylan was bringing it up to his own head.

“Dude!” Johnny exclaimed, putting his hand up as a way to try and get Dylan to stop without getting too close. “Just chill out, okay?

“No! Just stay back!” Dylan shouted at him and Johnny immediately did, frightened by his voice. “I’m sorry, man.”

“You don’t have to—”

Johnny was interrupted by the sound of the gun going off. Blood sprayed all over his face. Dylan’s body crumpled to the ground, causing Ruby to bark in terror before ducking behind a shaking Johnny.

Taeyong came running out within a second or two, his face panicked. He first looked down at Dylan, blood slowly sweeping out from the wound on his face and intermixing with the dirt. Then, he looked at Johnny, standing stockstill, staring down at Dylan’s unmoving body. He walked over and picked Ruby up from the ground, holding her close to his chest.

“Well, shit,” Taeyong said quietly.

“Yeah,” Johnny agreed.

Taeyong looked up at Johnny. He frowned. “You, uh,” he started, stopping to clear his throat. “There’s a little something on your face.”

Johnny knew. Dylan’s blood was hot and sticky, slowly melding into his skin.

“One second, please,” Johnny said, voice pinched.

Without waiting for Taeyong’s response, he bent over and threw up all over the ground.

_**_  
  


✂️

“I think I might take up smoking,” Taeyong said, glancing away from the road to look over at Johnny who had his head leaned against the window, petting over Ruby’s back as she slept. “It’s always looked kind of cool to me. I’ve never been brave enough to try because of lung cancer and shit but considering that I’m gonna die in a couple of weeks there isn’t really anything stopping me now, you know?” 

Johnny looked over at Taeyong without moving his head from the window. He waited a moment, giving Taeyong time to fix what was last said. Nothing ever came.

They hadn’t spoken since Dylan. After Johnny had recovered—which took a long while, considering that he couldn’t stop vomiting—Taeyong suggested burying him. Johnny really didn’t want to but it felt way too wrong to leave his body there for nearby wildlife to get to it. So, they did. The hole wasn’t very deep due to a lack of a shovel, dug by Taeyong’s hands and Ruby’s back paws.

Johnny was having a hard time thinking about anything else. The sight of Dylan bringing to gun to his head and pulling the trigger kept playing over and over in his mind. Taeyong had given him a bottle of lukewarm water to wash the blood off his face but Johnny could feel it sinking into his skin.

He kept wondering if he could have done more. If he had only tried to wrestle that gun out of Dylan’s hand, Dylan might still be here. Johnny could have tried talking him down. He hadn’t. That was entirely on him.

None of it would have happened if Taeyong hadn’t been so set on stopping to pick him up. And instead of acknowledging that, Taeyong was talking about fucking  _ smoking _ .

“Are you kidding me?” Johnny asked, absolutely incredulous.

“What?” Taeyong said, so frustratingly confused. “You think I shouldn’t?”

“Taeyong, I don’t give a fuck about you smoking!” Johnny exclaimed, causing Ruby to look up. “I just watched someone  _ die.  _ We buried a fucking  _ human being _ !”

“Yeah, that kind of sucked,” Taeyong mumbled, reaching up to adjust the rearview window. While doing so, he noticed how wide Johnny’s eyes had gotten with his response, staring at him pointedly. He sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry,” Taeyong caved with a shake of his head. “I admit that this wasn’t one of Ruby’s best moments.”

Johnny was going to scream. Ruby? Was Taeyong really blaming his dog for a mistake that  _ he _ had made? Johnny couldn’t take it anymore.

“ _ Ruby? _ ” Johnny snapped, his face starting to burn with how angry he was. “Taeyong,  _ you _ messed up, not the fucking  _ dog _ !”

Taeyong is clearly taken aback by Johnny’s sudden outburst. He laughed quietly before glancing over at Johnny, noticing his slowly reddening face and how tense his body had gotten in his seat. Realizing that Johnny was actually upset and not at all in the mood for whatever he had to say, Taeyong muttered a small  _ oh _ .

It’s quiet for a little while. Johnny could tell that Taeyong was trying to think of something to say.

“You wanna get something to eat?” Taeyong finally asked, his voice quiet and careful.

Johnny sighed deeply. He wasn’t going to get a proper apology from Taeyong. It was partially his fault, anyway. What had happened was exactly what Johnny deserved for listening to an 18–year–old that was clearly much too careless for his own good. After all, the two of them had met due to Taeyong’s carelessness.

He  _ was _ hungry. Maybe sitting down somewhere and eating would get his mind off of it.

“Fine,” Johnny finally said, leaning his head back against the window. “Whatever.”

Oddly enough, there was a diner that was still open a little bit down the road. Taeyong parked and they all got out. Johnny looked down at Ruby and wondered if her coming inside would be an issue. Ultimately, he figured that nobody really cared enough to say much about anything anymore.

The inside was much busier than Johnny would have expected it to be. People milled about, eating and talking, all seeming to be having a good time in their own elements. There was a sign at the front that said “SEAT YOURSELF, WE DON’T CARE ANYMORE”. Taeyong picked a booth in the back left corner of the restaurant.

Not even five minutes into sitting there, a girl with bright green hair pulled into a ponytail approached them, holding a notepad and smiling.

“Hi, I’m Beth!” she chirped. “What can I get for y’all today?”

“Um,” Johnny said, too busy staring at her tits.

“We’ll both take a water,” Taeyong interrupted, matching the girl’s perky attitude. “I can’t believe you all are still open.”

“Just because the world is ending doesn’t mean that people don’t want to eat anymore,” Beth told him happily. “I’ll be right back with those drinks, okay?”

Then, she was gone. Ruby sniffed a small circle of ketchup on the table for a moment before starting to lap it up with her tongue.

“Their dedication to good customer service is impressive,” Taeyong commented, opening up his menu.

“I guess,” Johnny mumbled. Now that Beth and her huge chest had walked away, he was back to thinking about Dylan.

Some time passed by. Beth came up and took their orders. Taeyong got a grilled cheese. Johnny got a burger that he definitely wasn’t going to eat more than half of. It didn’t take long for their food to come out.

Johnny took a bite of his burger, watching as Taeyong tore off a piece of his sandwich and handed it to Ruby who took it graciously, swallowing it down in a single chomp.

“Can I ask you a question?” Taeyong said, looking up at Johnny as he tore another piece of his grilled cheese off for himself. 

“You already did,” Johnny mumbled after a thick swallow.

Taeyong rolled his eyes. “I’m serious.”

“Fine,” Johnny shrugged, taking another bite of his burger. As it turned out, watching a man take his own life didn’t do much to dim down his appetite. “Shoot.”

“What did you do?” Taeyong asked. “Like, before all of this. What did you do?”

“I was a bartender,” Johnny shrugged. “And I went to school part–time at Guttman.”

Taeyong nodded. Johnny hoped that he hadn’t been expecting something more. To be honest, Johnny’s life had been boring since birth. He had never done anything all that special, had never made an impact on anyone, never changed anyone’s life for the better. In fact, this trip that he was taking with Taeyong was the most spontaneous thing he had ever done.

“What did you do?” Johnny spoke up, flipping the question on Taeyong.

“Not a goddamn thing,” Taeyong said, laughing a little. Johnny noticed how his top lip would kind of disappear when he smiled. “I didn’t have a job, didn’t go to school, didn’t have a boyfriend. I mean, not that I wanted one.”

“If you didn’t have a job, how did you live by yourself?” Johnny asked, frowning. “Your apartment was pretty big.”

“My aunt married this huge stockbroker who was fucking  _ loaded _ —I mean, like six different vacation homes all around the world loaded—and when they divorced he had to give her half of everything he had,” Taeyong explained, giving another piece of his sandwich over to Ruby. “She never really spent all that much of it but bought that apartment right before I moved to the States. When she died, she left me everything.”

“Everything?” Johnny said.

“The apartment, Ruby, about $45,000,” Taeyong responded like it was nothing.

“Forty–fiv—” Johnny cut himself off to cough loudly into his fist. “She left you $45,000?” Taeyong nodded, laughing again at Johnny’s reaction. “Well, what did you do with it?”

“I was  _ supposed  _ to use it to go to college,” Taeyong said, pointing his fork at Johnny. “Instead, I’ve been using it to spend money to my mom every other month. Which I’m sure my aunt is currently rolling over in her grave about because she fucking  _ hated _ my mom but what are you gonna do, you know?”

To be brutally honest, Johnny had fully expected for Taeyong to say that he had spent the money on something selfish or irresponsible. Taeyong must have been one of those people that valued family.

“How come you never moved back to Seoul?” Johnny said.

“Honestly?” Taeyong asked. Johnny nodded. “I didn’t think I could face them. I mean, they sent me here to live a better life than I could have in Seoul and instead I decided to camp in my dead aunt’s apartment and fuck a bunch of random guys on the couch her dad gave her.”

Johnny could understand that. In high school, every single member of his family were convinced that he was going to be ridiculously successful after graduation. He had over ten schools offering him scholarships with three of them being full–ride. 

He was stupid back then. Him and his father fought a lot. Johnny didn’t want to live him anymore. He made it through a month of college before it became too much. He relocated to New York. His mother was hesitant to give him the money to start up his new life but did anyway. She had never been unsupportive of him.

Life on his own proved to be harder than Johnny expected it to be. College was expensive. He started attending again but that didn’t happen for awhile. A lot changed for him. And honestly? Knowing that most of his family had such high expectations for him, Johnny didn’t know if he could face them, either.

“I get it,” Johnny finally said, nodding.

There was a long pause between them. Ruby whined in want for another piece of Taeyong’s sandwich.

“Okay, say something so we don’t have to wallow in how pathetic I am anymore,” Taeyong said, laughing a little. “Let’s talk about your dad.”

“What about my dad?” Johnny countered, frowning.

“I’m gonna be meeting him pretty soon,” Taeyong explained. “I should at least know  _ something  _ about him, don’t you think?”

Johnny didn’t think so. His father was a stern, serious man that refused to open up to anyone. Taeyong knowing something insignificant about him wouldn’t change that.

Still, Johnny caved. After all, it wouldn’t hurt anything as much as it wouldn’t help it. “He’s from Daegu,” he started slowly. “Has the thickest accent in the world. I had trouble understanding him for most of my life.” Johnny stopped to think some more. “He’s a pilot. Fought in the Korean War.”

“Your dad is a pilot?” Taeyong asked excitedly. “Does he have a plane?”

“Um,” Johnny said, hesitating. He honestly didn’t know. His father had a plane the last time Johnny saw him. It was one of his most prized possessions. He doubted that the older man would have gotten rid of it. “I think so.”

“Do you think he could take me to see my family?” Taeyong questioned, perking up in his seat. “I know it’s a lot to ask but I could pay him.” Taeyong stopped immediately after saying that. “All of the banks are closed,” he said, frowning. “Well, still.”

Take Taeyong all the way to Korea? Johnny didn’t know if his father would be up for that. He was older and didn’t like doing anything that wasn’t 100% required of him. Johnny’s father wasn’t a selfless man. He only did stuff for himself.

“I don’t know, Taeyong—” Johnny started, only to be interrupted.

“—It’s okay if he can’t,” Taeyong reassured him. “I just really miss my mom, you know? And my sister. I–I have a nephew that I’ve never met and I’d really like to meet him before the whole…”

Taeyong ended off his sentence with a little whistle, gesturing to the ceiling with his finger. Johnny shrugged. He didn’t know. He couldn’t give Taeyong an answer right there in that moment.

“I don’t know,” Johnny told him. “I’ll ask. Just don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

“My hopes will remain in the ground with Dylan,” Taeyong promised. Johnny almost immediately tensed up. “Too soon?”

“Way too soon,” Johnny said.

Taeyong nodded and went back to eating. Silence settled over the both of them again.

Then, Taeyong was suddenly perking up. He dropped his sandwich and Ruby took the moment of weakness to lick it up off his plate quickly. Taeyong didn’t seem to notice.

“Holy shit,” Taeyong said, pushing himself out of the booth. “Holy  _ shit _ , Johnny! That guy over there is smoking!”

Johnny turned around in his seat. True to Taeyong’s word, there was a guy sitting across from another one, laughing with a cigarette lit between his fingers. The sight wasn’t anything special. Johnny was pretty sure he saw a few people sharing a blunt on their way in.

“Don’t be a buzzkill, Taeyong,” Johnny responded, turning back around.

“Not  _ that _ , you doofus,” Taeyong snapped, smacking Johnny’s shoulder. “Remember I said how I wanted to take up smoking? Now’s my chance!”

“You’re going to go up to a random dude and ask him to take a hit of his cigarette?” Johnny deadpanned, frowning. “Why don’t we ask the people back there if they want to share their weed with us, too?”

“First of all, asshole, they all looked friendly so I’m sure they would,” Taeyong started. “Secondly, yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Without another word, Taeyong turned and started to walk over to the two men. Ruby hopped out of the booth and followed after him.

Johnny watched it all go down. Taeyong approached the table and introduced himself happily, picking Ruby up from the ground to introduce her as well. He pointed to the man’s cigarette while speaking animatedly, too far away for Johnny to make out what he was saying. Then, the man was shrugging and handing Taeyong the cigarette. Taeyong inhaled for about a half a second before breaking out into a violent coughing fit, startling Ruby with how loud it was.

The second inhale a little more successful. Taeyong still coughed but it wasn’t as viciously. He turned to Johnny with the cigarette still in his hand and waved him over.

Johnny had a bad feeling about it. Even so, he still got up and went.

“This is my friend, Johnny,” Taeyong said, wrapping an arm around Johnny’s neck. He reeked of smoke.

Both men smile up at Johnny and wave. “I’m Ten,” the one who had given Taeyong the cigarette said before to the man across from him. “This is Dongie.”

“Dongyoung,” the other man corrected quickly.

“Johnny, Johnny,” Taeyong said, tugging on the sleeve of Johnny’s shirt like a child. “They have liquor and said that they didn’t mind sharing with us.” 

“I usually wouldn’t condone letting someone under the age limit drink,” Ten started. “But, the world is ending. Why not, right?”

“Right,” Taeyong confirmed even though Ten had been talking to Johnny.

Johnny wasn’t too sure. After all, the last time they had talked to something they didn’t know, that same person brutally killed themselves right in front of his face.

Taeyong noticed his hesitancy. He sighed and looked down at Ten and Dongyoung. “Do either of you feel suicidal?” Taeyong asked, enacting an immediate laugh out of the both of them.

“Why kill myself when God is gonna do it for me in less than two weeks?” Dongyoung shrugged, cracking open a beer. He lifted it up for Johnny to take.

Johnny paused for a moment longer, thinking about it. It was basically undeniable that it would be a definite waste if he didn’t get drunk one last time before his (and everyone else’s) untimely end.

“Fine,” Johnny said, taking the can from Dongyoung without thinking about it any longer. “Might as well.”

Ten, Dongyoung and Taeyong cheered as he took a prolonged sip. Ruby barked her encouragement.

  
  


✂️

  
  


They end up drunk in the kitchen. Ruby was going in on random scraps of food she would find on the floor. Dongyoung has passed out near the stove, a can of beer still held in his loose hand.

Taeyong got really red when he was drunk. His entire face was dusted in color, traveling all the way down to his neck. It only took a can and a half to get him drunk. He was a lot more touchy under the influence. Johnny was pretty sure that Taeyong had headed over his dick at least six times in total.

Ten handled his alcohol well. He was clearly tipsy but definitely wasn’t as sloshed as Taeyong was. He would laugh when Taeyong struggled to push himself off the ground without immediately falling or spoke a decibel too loud. Johnny did, too. As it turned out, Taeyong was a really entertaining drunk.

Johnny was okay. Alcohol had never really affected him as much as it did other people. It took a lot to get him out of his mind. Still, it took the edge off. He drank slowly and watched the chaos of both Taeyong and Ten unfold around him.

It wasn’t until Taeyong and Ten got a little too close that Johnny realized the atmosphere around them was changing. Taeyong bit his lip and crawled in between Ten’s legs. Ten chuckled a little and ran a hand through Taeyong’s messy hair. Then, without any sort of warning, the two of them were kissing.

“Whoa,” Johnny said, coughing at the sight of Ten pushing his tongue into Taeyong’s mouth. “Um.”

No response came. In fact, it only got worse. Taeyong pushed Ten down onto his back on the floor, straddling him before reattaching their lips. Ten slipped both hands under Taeyong’s hoodie while they kissed, pushing it up and off his hips and revealing his curved little waist. Taeyong moaned into Ten’s mouth at the feeling of him pressing sharp bruises into his sensitive skin, rolling his hips down against Ten’s lap.

Johnny is stuck. It was clearly moving fast between them. He wasn’t sure what to do. He looked over at Dongyoung, only to find that the other was still sound asleep. With how much Dongyoung had drank, Johnny definitely wouldn’t have been surprised if he slept straight through the apocalypse.

“Hey, guys,” Johnny tried again, his voice cracking a little at the sight of Ten cupping Taeyong’s ass in those tiny green shorts as Taeyong mouthed wetly at his neck. “I–I’m still here.”

“Fuck me,” Taeyong breathed raspily to Ten who nodded, already beginning to help Taeyong out of his hoodie.

“Is that really a good idea?” Johnny croaked.

“You fuck me, too,” Taeyong said, finally acknowledging Johnny’s presence. “Both of you.”

Ten raised an eyebrow and looked at Johnny over Taeyong’s shoulder. “I don’t mind sharing if you don’t,” he said, shrugging.

Johnny froze. Was Taeyong really asking him to fuck him? Not only that, but was Taeyong asking him to participate in a threesome with a man both of them had just met? His mouth suddenly felt a little dry.

It wasn’t that Johnny wasn’t attracted to Taeyong. He  _ was _ . That was painfully obvious from how quickly Taeyong had made him come. The younger was small and thin and pretty. In fact, his shape actually kind of reminded Johnny of his ex–girlfriend’s.

The problem was that Taeyong was eight–fucking–teen. It felt really weird for Johnny to even be considering doing anything even  _ remotely _ sexual with him now that he was aware of his age. Almost like Johnny would be taking advantage of him by doing so.

“His cock is so big, Ten,” Taeyong mumbled. “It’d probably rearrange me from the inside.” 

“Yeah?” Ten asked, smiling. “You gonna let us see, Johnny?”

Johnny was stuck. He had two twinks—yeah, he knew how to use that word in a sentence, now—staring back at him sultrily. They were waiting on him, waiting for an answer. Johnny’s brain literally refused to formulate a coherent sentence for his mouth to say in that moment.

“That’s okay,” Ten spoke up again, turning back to Taeyong. “He can watch us, right, Taeyong?”

“Yeah,” Taeyong breathed and just like that, the two of them were back to kissing as feverently as before.

Taeyong was really desperate when he kissed. It was like he couldn’t go more than a couple of seconds without a tongue in his mouth, moving against his own. Luckily, it seemed that Ten was the exact same.

Not too long into their embrace, Ten was reaching down and pushing Taeyong’s shorts down his hips, leaving him only in his underwear. Taeyong pulled Ten’s old T–shirt and tossed it somewhere across the room. Then, with both hands moving over the expansion of Taeyong’s thin thighs before splaying over his ass, Ten moved his mouth up to Taeyong’s ear.

“You want me to fuck you, Taeyong?” Ten muttered, loud enough for Johnny to hear.

“Please,” Taeyong whined desperately. “Haven’t been fucked in so long.”

“Hm,” Ten hummed softly. “Turn around for me, then. Face Johnny.”

Taeyong obeyed immediately, pushing himself up on his hands and knees with his ass facing Ten. When his and Johnny’s eyes met, Taeyong blushed a little, pulling his lower lip into his mouth. Johnny wondered if he had any idea how good he looked like that. If he knew how much of a little fuckdoll he looked like in his current position.

Ten wasted no time before pulling Taeyong’s underwear down past the curve of his ass. Johnny almost wished that Taeyong was facing the other way again so he could see the tiny swell of his backside, bare and exposed in the cold air of the kitchen. Ten pushed some of his dark hair out of his face before bringing his hand around to Taeyong’s face, pushing his index finger against his lips.

“Suck, sweetheart,” Ten said softly. Taeyong didn’t hesitate before pulling Ten’s finger into his mouth.

He sucked the lone digit like he sucked cock; messy and steady. A little bit of drool leaked out from the corner of his mouth as he got Ten’s finger all wet, nipping and sucking like he would never get anything like it ever again.

(Which, he honestly might not.)

Ten pulled his finger back out soon thereafter, leaving Taeyong huffing in disappointment. He didn’t have to pout about it for too much longer, as Ten was putting a hand on his ass, fingers dangerously close to his hole.

“You’re so little,” Ten mumbled, moving the hand that wasn’t palming Taeyong’s ass to crawl up his spine.

“Ten,” Taeyong whimpered hurriedly. “Please.”

“So impatient,” Ten commented under his breath but obeyed regardless, rubbing the pad of his finger across Taeyong’s hole before pushing it all the way instead with one swift motion. 

Taeyong gasped loudly at the feeling of Ten’s finger inside of him. Johnny could see Ten’s hand moving, slowly pumping in and out of Taeyong. It didn’t take long for Taeyong’s breath to hitch and his head to fall in between his arms after what Johnny assumed had been Ten crooking his finger against Taeyong’s prostate.

“A–Ah,” Taeyong breathed, rocking his hips back for more. “Again.”

“Don’t be greedy, love,” Ten chastised before pulling his finger out of Taeyong entirely. Taeyong whined irritatedly, looking back at Ten over his shoulder.

He wasn’t able to look at Ten for very long, as Ten was shoving three of his fingers into Taeyong’s mouth, including the one that had recently been inside him. Johnny’s cock twitched at the sight of Taeyong being forced to suck something that had previously been in his ass, doing it so unabashedly.

“He looks good, doesn’t he, Johnny?” Ten asked, startling Johnny by the sudden inclusion. “Like a real slut.”

“Y–Yeah,” Johnny mumbled, causing Taeyong to moan around Ten’s fingers.

Ten giggled at his response before pulling his fingers out of Taeyong’s mouth again. He didn’t waste any time before tucking two of them back inside of Taeyong, causing him to writhe at the sudden stretch.

Johnny was having a bit of trouble. While he couldn’t see what all was going on behind Taeyong like how pretty his hole must have looked stretched around Ten’s fingers, he could still see how lidded Taeyong’s eyes had gotten, how wet his mouth was slick with his own spit and how pink his cheeks had gotten which was almost more adorable than it was hot. He moved a hand down to palm at his cock, lips parting with how electrifying the touch had felt.

Ten must crook his fingers again because Taeyong is crying out once more. It was then that Johnny caught a glimpse of how Taeyong’s cock was hard in between his legs, leaking a small puddle of pre–come onto the linoleum.

“God, it feels so fucking good, Ten,” Taeyong whined, gasping as Ten added a third and final finger, pushing inside of him without any sort of warning. “I–I think I might come.”

“Already?” Ten taunted, still not letting up on fucking Taeyong. “What about me and John over there? You haven’t made us feel good yet.”

“Johnny,” Taeyong moaned, knocking Johnny’s breath straight out of his chest.

“What if he fucks your throat and I fuck your hole?” Ten proposed, crooking his fingers again, causing the boy beneath him to preen loudly. Taeyong had the most adorable moans. “Or we both stuff ourselves into your hole at the same time and fuck you blind?” Ten fucked his fingers into Taeyong one last time before pulling out. Johnny almost choked at the sight of Ten pushing the same digits that had been in Taeyong’s hole into his mouth, eyeing him all the while. “Or what if Johnny fucks both of us?”

Johnny’s stomach flipped at that last one. As much as he wanted to fuck Taeyong, being able to take the both of them in one sitting sounded too delicious for him to turn down. He hesitated for only a moment longer before nodding.

“Me first, okay, Taeyong?” Ten said as Johnny made his way over to him.

“No fair,” Taeyong mumbled, sitting up on his knees. Once closer to him, Johnny could tell that Taeyong was still under the influence. He reeked of alcohol and had this distant look in his eye.

“Is so,” Ten said back before crawling over to Johnny and pushing him down onto his back. He straddled him quickly, running his hands up and down Johnny’s chest through the thin fabric of his shirt. Then, without warning, Ten was reaching down and feeling over the bulge in Johnny’s pants, causing him to gasp aloud. Ten giggled softly and leaned down to peck at the corner of Johnny’s mouth, his hand still steadily traveling the length of the older’s cock. “Tae was right,” he whispered, his breath hot against Johnny’s cheek. “You’re fucking huge.”

Ten kissed him after that. For as little as he was, it seemed that he liked to take control. His tongue pushed into Johnny’s mouth without hesitation, tasting of cigarettes and one of the mango mixers he and Taeyong has been sharing for most of the night. Ten kissed like he was sure of himself because he  _ was _ . He knew that all of the tension in the room had been caused by him and him alone. That fact alone was so hot that Johnny almost couldn’t stand it.

Johnny let Ten get him out of his pants and boxers, leaving him as bare as Taeyong was. He sucked in a sharp breath of air in through his teeth as Ten moved off his lap and in between his legs, only giving Johnny a second to compose himself once he had gotten a hand on his cock before sucking the head into his mouth. 

Ten didn’t waste any time before taking down as much as Johnny as he could handle. Johnny groaned at the feeling of Ten’s throat suffocating his cock, wrapping it in the tight and wet heat. It was his second blowjob within the past two days and Johnny was still having trouble handling it.

“Hey,” Johnny heard come softly to the right of him. He looked away from Ten’s head bobbing in his lap to see Taeyong staring back at him, biting his lip shyly. 

Taeyong didn’t ask before leaning forward and kissing him. Johnny was having a hard time putting as much of him into the kiss as needed but Taeyong didn’t seem to mind, slowly moving his tongue against Johnny’s own, pulling back every so often to nip the corner of Johnny’s mouth with his teeth. He tasted like mango, too.

Ten swallowed around his cock and Johnny gasped into Taeyong’s mouth, causing him to laugh quietly at the older’s reaction. With one final drag of his tongue against one of the veins on the side of Johnny’s cock Ten was pulling off, his own saliva slowly dripping down his chin. Taeyong pulled back, too, giving Johnny a soft smile before his attention was redirected over to Ten.

“I’m already loose,” Ten mumbled, shimmying out of his sweatpants. He must notice Johnny’s confusion, going on to explain, “Dongie.”

“You two are dating?” Johnny asked, glancing back at Dongyoung who still hadn’t budged from his spot on the floor.

“Used to be,” Ten said, climbing back onto Johnny’s lap. “We decided to drop the whole label thing when we found out.” Before Johnny could say anything else, Ten was moving down to pull him into another biting kiss. It doesn’t last for too long and after a moment, the two of them are separating, a string of saliva connecting their lips until Ten licked it up into his own mouth. “Now stop asking me questions and fuck me.”

Johnny wasn’t given much time to prepare himself for Ten rubbing the head of his cock over his hole before pushing it inside of him, sheathing it in the warm heat of his body. Johnny moaned quietly at the feeling of it, not having expected for Ten to be so tight after he had told him about his rendezvous with Dongyoung earlier. Ten laughed breathily and sat fully in Johnny’s lap, face starting to twinge a soft red.

“You’re so big,” Ten gasped again, starting to slowly roll his hips against Johnny’s lap, stretching him out even further.

Ten didn’t wait before lifting up and pushing himself back down onto Johnny’s cock, dragging the head along his walls. He laughed a bit airily and did it again, moaning at the feeling of Johnny filling him up.

There was a small whimper to his left and Johnny looked over to see Taeyong rutting his cock against Johnny’s pants that he had shucked off earlier. He was so out of it that he didn’t even notice Johnny watching him, licking his lips at the sight of him. 

Ten built up a steady pace, working himself on Johnny’s cock. He wasn’t that loud which Johnny almost loathed but hearing Taeyong’s little gasps and whines every so often made up for it. The feel of Ten’s hole surrounding his cock was so overwhelming for Johnny, pressing his fingers even further into Ten’s waist with each drop of his hips.

“Look at Tae,” Ten said, grabbing hold of Johnny’s face and forcing him to look at Taeyong. “He’s so desperate for you, John; humping your clothes like a fucking  _ dog _ .”

Taeyong moaned quietly at that, his cheeks going warm with embarrassment. He didn’t sop rolling his hips down against Johnny’s pants, looking back at Johnny with half–lidded eyes, lips parted, keening with each time his cock caught against a seam or pocket.

“You wanna fuck him?” Ten asked sultrily, dropping back onto Johnny’s lap again. “I don’t think he’s gonna last much longer.”

“Yeah,” Johnny breathed, nodding.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Ten called, getting Taeyong’s attention with the name. “It’s your turn.”

Taeyong came over quickly, suddenly looking very shy now that he was right in front of Johnny. Ten climbed off Johnny’s cock with one final swivel of his hips. 

“You wanna suck me off while Johnny fucks you?” Ten asked, kissing the corner of Taeyong’s mouth softly.

“Okay,” Taeyong nodded.

“Alright, love,” Ten confirmed, running a hand down Taeyong’s small arm. “Hands and knees.”

Taeyong was quick to comply and  _ shit _ —Johnny almost came right there and then. Taeyong’s hole was pink and hairless, a little loose from when Ten has fucked him with his fingers. He looked so vulnerable in that position, all presented for Johnny to take.

“Hey, Johnny?” Taeyong mumbled, looking over his shoulder at the older.

“Yeah?” Johnny said, taking hold of his cock, ready to position himself against Taeyong’s hole.

“Be mean, okay?”

Johnny nodded. He could be mean. He could be anything Taeyong wanted him to be.

Then, Ten was feeding his cock into Taeyong’s mouth, pushing it inside until Taeyong couldn’t take it anymore. He gagged at how deep Ten was in his throat, trying his best to back off a little.

Johnny couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t wait a second longer before pushing inside of Taeyong, drawing a muffled gasp—well, what Johnny thought might have been one, it was a bit hard to tell with Taeyong’s mouth stuffed with cock—out of the other. Johnny held back a hiss as he bottomed out inside of Taeyong. He was so much tighter than Ten was.

Taeyong hollowed out his cheeks around Ten’s cock, causing him to moan quietly at the suction. He pushed a hand into Taeyong’s hair, the purple pieces tangling in Ten’s fingers. He rolled his hips, forcing his length further into Taeyong’s throat.

“Just like that,” Ten mumbled, earning a soft moan from Taeyong in response.

“A–Ah!” Taeyong cried after Ten pulled him off of his cock as Johnny fucked straight into his prostate. He hung his head between his arms, panting quietly as Johnny did it again, aiming almost every other thrust at that sensitive bundle of nerves. “O–Oh God, Johnny— _ harder _ .”

Johnny did exactly that, almost slamming his hips against Taeyong’s small ass, undoubtedly bruising it. He was starting to feel himself start to run out of breath, growing closer to an orgasm. Taeyong kept whimpering with each thrust, doing so until Ten lifted his head back up and pushed his cock back inside of Taeyong’s little mouth.

Taeyong was only able to make it through another thrust or two before the feel of Johnny’s cock slamming into his prostate became too much for him, whining around Ten’s cock as he came all over the floor, his body shuddering violently through his orgasm.

Johnny followed soon thereafter, pulling out of Taeyong, wrapping a fist around his cock and stroking himself before spilling all over the sip of Taeyong’s back. He could only assume that Ten came around the same time as him, as Taeyong was coughing and spitting Ten’s cock out, the come that had spilled all over his tongue leaking down onto his chin.

Taeyong was the first to fall, rolling onto his back and into the puddle of come underneath him. Ten followed after, leaning over Taeyong to kiss him again, slowly and a lot less filthy than before.

“Best End of the World sex ever,” Taeyong breathed once he and Ten had pulled apart.

Johnny opened his mouth to agree but stopped once he noticed Dongyoung stirring, rolling over onto his side before sitting up completely. He rubbed both fists over his eyes, giving Johnny time to grab his pants—that were stained with Taeyong’s pre–come, which Johnny had forgotten about the feeling of something cold and wet sinking into his skin startled him—before looking over at the trio to his right.

Dongyoung blinked at them for a long moment. Then, he shook his head. 

“Ten, you’re such a fucking whore,” Dongyoung said before laying back down.

  
  


✂️  
  


So, Johnny felt a little bad about everything.

Taeyong is driving and the car is quiet and Johnny is experiencing some intense guilt. There had to have been something wrong with him. That was the only way to explain him fucking an 18–year–old who had been one shot away from blacking out completely.

It’s not that Taeyong seemed upset about it—Johnny doubted he was, considering the way he kept pouting at the thought of never seeing (and fucking) Ten again. If anything, Johnny was pretty sure he was the only one who even saw a problem with what had happened. That was the issue, though. He was the only one who wasn’t comfortable with the whole thing now that it was all said and done because he was the oldest and had been the most sober out of all of them. Didn’t that make him the creep in this situation?

His guilt is actually choking him. Johnny felt like he might actually die if he didn’t address it. 

“So, um,” Johnny started, stopping to clear his throat quietly. “I think we need to talk about what happened.”

Taeyong frowned and looked over at him, so very clearly confused as to what Johnny could have been talking about.

“What?” Taeyong said, laughing a little. “Why?”

“If I took advantage of you—” Johnny began before being cut off by Taeyong.

“—If you  _ what? _ ” Taeyong wheezed, his eyes widening.

“—Or made you feel pressured into doing something that you didn’t want to do,” Johnny continued, raising his voice over Taeyong who was saying  _ oh my God  _ underneath his breath. “It was completely irresponsible of me and I definitely shouldn’t have done anything with you while you were drunk.”

“You were drunk, too, Johnny,” Taeyong pointed out, glancing over at him again. “Are you saying that I took advantage of you?”

“ _ No _ ,” Johnny said firmly. “Absolutely not. I’m the one with more life experience here. I shouldn’t have done anything.”\

“So because you’re forty—” Johnny interrupted Taeyong quickly. 

“—I’m twenty–three,” he corrected sharply.

“—So because you’re  _ twenty–three _ ,” Taeyong repeated slowly. “You’re suddenly some huge pervert because you slept with two consenting adults?”

Johnny stopped to think about it. What Taeyong was saying  _ was _ true. Still, he was having a bit of trouble accepting it. Consenting adult or not, Taeyong was easily the youngest person Johnny had ever slept with. Ruby stuck her head further out the window and Johnny tightened his grip on her, afraid that she might leap out.

“I don’t know,” Johnny mumbled, shaking his head. 

“I  _ wanted _ you to fuck me,” Taeyong restated. “I’m literally the one that brought you into it. So, if anything,  _ I’m _ the creep that has sex with people under the influence, okay? Now let it go.”

It all still didn’t sit too well with Johnny but he decided to stop talking about it for Taeyong’s sake. He settled back into his seat and sighed, turning to look out the window.

They continue driving for maybe another half an hour. Johnny is halfway to sleep when the car pulling to a sudden stop jolted him upright, startling Ruby awake as well. He looked up at Taeyong who was staring down at the gauge above the wheel, frowning. Almost like he felt Johnny’s eyes on him, Taeyong looked up and over, giving the older a sheepish little smile.

“You don’t happen to have gas with you, right?” Taeyong asked.

Johnny blinked at him. He was having a hard time understanding the question. Why was Taeyong asking him about gas? Why was the car stopped in the middle of the road? Who the fuck carried around gas with him?

“Huh?” Johnny said, frowning.

“We,” Taeyong started, biting his lip, “may be out of gas.”

“What do you mean ‘may’?” Johnny questioned, leaning over the console. “What does the meter say?”

One look at the meter told him that the tank was at a solid E. It was actually beneath the E which meant that the tank hadn’t been filled in a long while. Johnny stared at it for a long moment before looking up at Taeyong.

“You didn’t get gas?” Johnny asked. Taeyong hesitated a second before shaking his head. “Taeyong, why didn’t you get gas?”

“I might have forgotten,” Taeyong admitted in a small voice.

“How did you forget?” Johnny snapped. “The meter is right in front of you. All you had to do is look down!”

“Don’t yell at me!” Taeyong exclaimed, pulling his feet up onto his seat. He waited until Johnny had relaxed a little before speaking again. “I’m sure there’s a gas station somewhere around here.”

There wasn’t. They were in the middle of nowhere Ohio with nothing but grasslands surrounding them. The last time Johnny had been fully coherent, the only building he had seen was a church. There wasn’t anything around for miles.

“We are in the  _ middle of nowhere _ ,” Johnny hissed through his teeth. “Where do you think a gas station is going to be, Taeyong? Just a block down from the  _ farm _ we’re sitting in front of?”

Taeyong only stared at him for a long moment. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped, instead pulling the hoodie up over his head, turning back to look at the meter. Then, his face broke. A wet sob escaped him before he dropped his head down onto the wheel, causing it to honk and disturb the otherwise quiet air of the area. Ruby was quick to hop off of Johnny’s lap and onto Taeyong’s, trying her best to comfort her owner by snuggling herself into his chest.

“I’m such an idiot,” Taeyong wailed, his voice shuddery and broken. “I’m never gonna see my family again and now you’re not gonna see your dad because I’m too stupid to remember to get gas!”

Johnny froze. He definitely hadn’t been expecting this kind of reaction from Taeyong. Ruby pawed frantically at Taeyong’s arm, trying to get him to look up. Johnny was suddenly filled with guilt. He didn’t mean to upset Taeyong. He supposed it was the whole end of the world thing getting to him.

He stared at Taeyong for a little while longer. He was having trouble figuring out exactly what to do. 

“Hey,” Johnny said, reaching over to hold Taeyong in an awkward hug. “You’re not an idiot.”

“Yes, I am,” Taeyong cried pitifully, sniffling. “I’m an idiot and I’m an—I’m an awful son. I couldn’t even make the last  _ fucking  _ plane to Korea to see my family because I’m so much of a fuckup that I slept through my alarm.”

Johnny didn’t know how to respond. It seemed like Taeyong was going through a lot and Johnny wasn’t sure how to comfort him. He just sat there and held him for a long time, listening to him sniffle and cry into the wheel.

“We still have two weeks, okay?” Johnny said after a moment. “It wouldn’t be impossible for us to make it to Chicago by then.”

“You don’t even know if your dad will want to take me,” Taeyong muttered quietly.

He didn’t. But, Johnny didn’t want to continue leading Taeyong on with the slightest chance of hope that his father  _ might _ be able to take him to go see his family.

“I’ll make sure he does,” Johnny promised. “Just stop crying, okay? It’s really uncomfortable for me.”

With that, Taeyong lifted his head up from the steering wheel. His face was blotchy and there was a little bit of snot leaking from his nose. He sniffled again and lifted a hand covered in the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe it off his face.

It was a bit weird. Even with his face all wet from his own tears, Taeyong still looked pretty. His eyes were still glistening with unfallen moisture, rimmed with red, making them seem a lot larger than usual. In a way, Johnny is mesmerized by it.

“Really?” Taeyong said quietly.

Now would be Johnny’s chance to back out, to tell Taeyong that he honestly had no way of guaranteeing that for him. Johnny thought about it for a moment. Ultimately, he decided that he couldn’t.

“Yeah,” Johnny finally nodded. “So, stop feeling sorry for yourself and help me figure out how the hell we’re gonna get there now that we’re essentially without a car.”

“Okay,” Taeyong said, sniffling one last time before sitting up a bit straighter. “Alright.” He stopped to take a look around, wiping at his eyes before turning back to Johnny. “W–Where are we?”

“About an hour outside of Cincinnati,” Johnny answered.

Taeyong brightened at that. “Cincinnati?” he said, the excitement in his voice clear. Johnny nodded and Taeyong sat up even straighter than before, wiping underneath his nose again. “I, um—I used to date someone from Cincinnati.” 

“Does he still live there?” Johnny asked.

“I think so,” Taeyong responded. “Everything looked the same last time I checked his Instagram.”

“You check his Instagram?” Johnny said, laughing a little.

“Yeah,” Taeyong shrugged. “I check to see if he deleted the pictures of me on his feed.”

“And has he?” Johnny asked, causing Taeyong to smile.

“Nope,” Taeyong answered. “Which is why he’ll definitely help us.”

“Okay,” Johnny nodded, unhooking the belt from across his chest. “Well, let’s go.”

“We’re gonna walk to Cincinnati?” Taeyong asked, frowning.

“No,” Johnny said, opening his door and starting to climb out. “We’re gonna walk until we find a gas station. Then,  _ I’m  _ gonna drive us to Cincinnati because no offense but I no longer trust you behind the wheel.”

Taeyong laughed at that. Johnny laughed, too. He waited for Taeyong and Ruby to get out, slamming the car door behind him. Ruby tangled herself up in her leash—a talent that she had—and Taeyong had to bend down to pick her up and free her.

He wiped his face one last time before looking up at Johnny and holding Ruby’s paw up for him to high–five. Johnny did.

“Let’s do this,” Taeyong said determinedly, completely different from how upset he was earlier.

“Let’s do this,” Johnny echoed and without another word, the three of them were on their way.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to request anything or to just talk about Taeyong/Johnyong/etc. to me, you should follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/princeyongs) or leave me something on [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/allforyong)!
> 
> Please, please, PLEASE leave comments! I love reading them!


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